Wednesday, August 19, 2009

PRUNE BARS - CARRÉS AUX QUETSCHES

Nature, in August, is particularly plentiful and offers so many wonderful goodies. For a foodie like me who loves seasonal produces, this period of the year is paradisiac and highly exciting!

When the stalls of (food)markets abund with all those precious greengroceries, I cannot moderate my vegetable and fruit consumption and tend to compulsively buy everything (well not exactly) that makes me salivate.

It is a fact that every time I go shopping, I come back home with tons of fresh and local produces from the Geneva area. My fridge literally explodes and cannot even "swallow" the tiniest cherry tomato anymore...

During this plentiful period, One of my alltime favorite stone fruit is fresh Swiss prunes (also known as "Quetsches" in France and "Zwetschge" in Swiss Germany/Germany). Those lovely violet little plums are so pretty, addictive, delicate-tasting and versatile (tarts, pies, compote, crumbles, ice creams, savory dishes, etc...) that I can never get enough of them.

The people who know me well and read this blog regularly must have noticed that dessert bars rule my world and that I will never tire of them (the same goes for prunes). So, It was very naturally that I decided upon baking that treat and using prune "jam" as a filling, thus combinung two of my favorite things.

After having searched the net for slices recipes which would enlist prunes as an ingredient, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to find any recipe of that kind and that I would have to invent one for the occasion...

So, I opted for a zesty and slightly smoky lemon-scented crust with cocoa nibs (that were given to me by the kind and generous Mamina, a French foodblogger at "Et Si C'était Bon?" - merci beaucoup!!!), a tangy and fragrantly spicy 5 spice prune filling and a coconutty and almondy crumble topping.

As you can imagine, those "Prune Bars" were fantastic and so enjoyable with their layers of refined flavors that blend equisitely together.

Method for the "Plum Filling:1. In a non-reactive saucepan, sprinkle the sugar and spice over the plums and let the fruit macerate for about 20 - 30 minutes.2. Add the lime juice and cook the plums until the liquid has evaporated and the fruit is thick and chunky. You can mash some of them if you prefer.3. Let cool and then incorporate the cornstarch.Method for the "Crust":4. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F).5. Grease the bottom and sides of a 13 x 13cm (9 by 9-inch) baking pan.6. In a small bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Set aside.7. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter, vanilla, lemon and sugar at medium speed until combined, about 1 minute.8. At low speed, add the flour mixture and mix just until crumbly.9. Set aside 4 tbs of this mixture for the crumb topping.10. Mix 2 tsps cocoa nibs to the rest of the dough and turn out into the prepared pan.11. With floured fingertips, press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan.12. Using a spatula or the back of the spoon, spread the plum filling evenly over the dough.Method for the "Crumb Topping":13. Mix all ingredients for the crumb topping and spread evenly over the prune jam.14. Bake on the middle of the oven, until golden brown 30 to 40 minutes.15. Cool the bars completely before cutting them into squares or rectangles.Remarks:You can replace the castor sugar by brown (light or dark) sugar.If you have no prunes at hand, try this recipe with plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots or evn bananas.Those bars can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Serving suggestions:Serve those bars with whipped cream, clotted cream, mascarpone, ice cream or just a glass of ice cold milk.

I find it so hard to resist all these delicious fresh goodies at the market so that I end up spending a fortune. I was wondering what to make with these Quetsches but of course, your fruits bars would be perfect.

There are many prune trees in my neighborhood. I was told that you should not pick them but shake the tree occasionally until they fall and then pick them up. Your prune bars sounds yummy. Dessert bars become your signature desserts!!!